


The Vet, the Zookeeper, and the Shapeshifting Wolf

by ughdotcom



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Zookeepers, Don't copy to another site, F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29484339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughdotcom/pseuds/ughdotcom
Summary: Sometimes your god boyfriend breaks up with you after giving you shapeshifting and immortality and you spend a depressed haze in the body of a wolf and you break your leg and get taken to a zoo. It isn't like it's only ever happened to Jack before.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, The Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler
Kudos: 4





	The Vet, the Zookeeper, and the Shapeshifting Wolf

“That wolf really doesn’t want to be here.” the Doctor said, leaning on a railing and looking at the zoo’s newest animal, who was pacing across the large enclosure like he was scouting it.

“He’s going to be released as soon as that broken leg heals properly.” Rose replied. “I hope that happens soon, if recovery takes too long, Mr Saxon might keep him permanently.” she smiled at the zoo’s vet, who happened to also be named the Doctor. He had also been her long time crush for as long as she had worked as a zookeeper at the TARDIS zoo, Temporary Animal Residence; eDangered in Suffering.

It was only supposed to house the animals temporarily while they healed, but sometimes the zoo’s owner, Harold Saxon, would keep the animal permanently if he judged them too injured to return to the wild, which to him usually meant that the animal didn’t take an unreasonably short amount of time to heal.

The wolf was majestic, his hair darker than any wolf that Rose had seen before. He was also bigger than most wolves, and seemed to carry himself with almost humanesque demeanor.

Also, although it was unknown to Rose, he wasn’t exactly a wolf.

Jack Harkness had been a regular human, born to normal parents and having a normal brother. But when he was 18, running loose, free, and queer in 1820, he met a man in a bar. The man was nice, and kind, and obviously queer like Jack, and they fell onto each other, kissing and more. The man finally told Jack his secret. He was an immortal god, the god of the snow and ice, and he would have to leave soon as the summer dawned.

Jack, head over heels, begged him to make him immortal, so they could live forever together. He implied, and threw a little shapeshifting into the equation as a treat.

Then, 200 years later, he broke up with Jack, going away to live with the moon god, or some shit. So no one could really blame Jack for needing some time as a wolf to cope. Human emotions are hard. And even when you retain normal coherency in animal form, it’s a lot easier to cope when you can also chase deer and your tail.

That was when Jack got his foot caught in a trap and it snapped clean in half. Well, not clean. There were a lot of bone shards inside him. And then, before Jack could turn to human and kill himself so that he returned fully healed, he was found by some workers from the TARDIS zoo.

So there he was, shoved in an enclosure. To be fair, it was a good enclosure. Any real wolf would be happy. He could barely scout it all. But he wasn’t a regular wolf. He was an immortal of human intelligence and he was trapped. And he couldn’t just turn back in the middle of the day and scare the onlookers.

Of course, the Doctor and Rose didn’t know that. To them, he was just a cool looking wolf that was healing of a broken leg.

A really cool looking wolf, but honestly it could just be a regular grey wolf with a melanistic mutation that was tall. It wasn’t like DNA never contained mutations, the Doctor had a PhD and Rose worked with animals. They both knew that.

So they strolled away from the enclosure, leaving Jack, chattering on about the mechanisms of time travel, agreeing that it was possible but it would improbable, if not impossible to build a time machine.

“I’d name it a TARDIS.” the Doctor joked. “After this place.”

“I hope it doesn’t stand for the same thing.” Rose laughed, elbowing him playfully.

“Time and Relative Dimension in Space.”

“Better than what we’ve got. So you’ve thought about this, huh? So the main problem would be finding out how to see time, and then harness it. It’s the fourth dimension, and we can’t see things above 3d, so how do you think you’d be able to do that?”

“I probably can’t, that’s why I’m a vet.”

Jack remained behind, wondering if the zoo had cameras that would catch him shifting and wondering how weird it would be to ask his ex to grant two humans the ability to see the fourth dimension.

That night, Rose was left behind the zoo. Normally she didn’t have night shift, that was Donna’s job, but Donna had a therapy appointment to cope with the longtime emotional abuse she had suffered at the hands of her mother, so Rose agreed to take the shift as long as Donna found a better therapy time.

The Doctor stayed behind with Rose to keep her company.

They decided to visit the wolf enclosure, to check on the new recruit. They were holding hands, and both planned to finally tell the other they liked them when they got there. But instead of coming up to the glass to see Jack or the other wolf that they had, they found a man standing there, trying to tame messy hair in his reflection in the enclosure glass. Messy hair the same shade as the wolf’s coat.

“What the fuck are you doing in there!” Rose demanded. It was nearly impossible to get into the wolf pen, even zookeepers were rarely let in there, most food wasn’t even delivered that way.

The man thought on it for a second, glancing down at his out of date military coat and obviously human form. He held up a finger in a clear ‘wait’ gesture, and pressed his hand along a crack in the glass, and slowly his body turned to goo, soaking through the crack. He rematerialized on the other side, and held up his hands. “Don’t shoot.”

Rose glanced over at the Doctor. “We don’t have guns.”

“Oh? Pity. I lost mine before I shifted. Captain Jack Harkness, and you are?” he winked.

“The Doctor and Rose Tyler.” the Doctor supplied, and Rose elbowed him hard in the side.

“Don’t tell him that! How’d you get in the wolf enclosure?”

“You put me in there.” Jack replied. “What, you prefer me in wolf form?” he smirked. “Not my favorite honestly. Missed a trap there.”

“You’re the wolf?” Rose said doubtfully.

“I’m the wolf! Can I put my hands down now?”

“We don’t have guns.” Rose said again. “Go ahead. How do we know you aren’t a lying trespasser? Shapeshifters don’t exist.”

Jack crossed his arms. “Well, I exist. And I’m a shapeshifter. Now, I’ll help you come up with an excuse for your boss if you let me go.”

“Where are you going to go?” the Doctor asked.

“Probably wherever I can. My god boyfriend broke up with me, and now the entire world feels too small.”

“Did you know,” the Doctor started, “I have a model TARDIS in my garage. If you can get said ‘god ex’ to make it go, you can come with me.” he turned to Rose and his voice softened. “You too.”

Rose nodded and smiled lovingly before turning back to Jack. “You heard him. Get his time machine to run, and you can go wherever you want.”

Jack grinned. “I bet I can do that.” he joined them walking out the door, Rose and the Doctor’s hands linked. The Doctor reached out and took Jack’s hand, and the farm boy from 1820 didn’t complain.


End file.
